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June 19, 2006

G68: Red Sox 6, Nationals 3

Hey, we won! Kyle Snyder did fine (5-4-3-0-6, 67), relying heavily on a nice slider and a 12-6 curve -- he struck out Alfonso Soriano three times with nothing but breaking stuff. The foursome of Van Buren, Lopez, Seanez and Timlin allowed a mere three hits and no runs over the final four innings.

Most of the offense came from the bottom of the order: Varitek doubled, singled, and walked and scored a run; Crisp singled twice, walked and scored once; Lowell singled and walked twice, and scored; Kapler singled, doubled and scored; and Cora singled, walked and drove in two runs.

Manny Ramirez added some insurance with a leadoff double in the seventh -- he scored (increasing the lead to 5-3) on a bases-loaded walk to Cora -- and he homered in the eighth (6-3).

Philadelphia beat New York 4-2, so the lead in the East is now 2 games. Toronto was off; they are 3.5 out.

***

6:05 PM -- To make room for Kyle Snyder, J.T. Snow -- the only player in Red Sox history to wear #84 -- was designated for assignment (the team has 10 days to either trade him or put him on waivers).

After pitching in all three games in Atlanta, Jonathan Papelbon is not available tonight. ... Gabe Kapler gets a start in right field.

The Red Sox open a nine-game homestand against three NL East teams: the Nationals, Phillies and Mets (who, at 43-25, lead the East by 9.5 games).

Right-hander Armas was one of two Sox pitching prospects traded to Montreal in November 1997 for Pedro Martinez (Carl Pavano was the other). In his last start, Armas threw 82 pitches in 3+ innings against Colorado, allowing seven runs. He has never faced the Red Sox.

Snyder -- who will wear #52 -- was a first-round draft pick for Kansas City in 1999 (and 7th overall). He had Tommy John surgery in 2000 (one of four arm surgeries he has had) and made his debut at Fenway Park on May 1, 2003. In 29 major league games (19 starts), he is 2-9 with a 5.91 ERA.

[H]e's very excited about coming over here for the change of scenery. ... I know in the past, from hearing from other people in the industry, he's had problems elevating balls in the zone, but I don't know much about lately. Obviously, if he keeps the ball down in the zone, he can create a good, downhill plane being the tall kid he is [6-8], but if you can't create that downhill plane and you're elevating, hitters at this level don't miss those pitches too often.

Snyder is certainly well rested -- he has not pitched in a game since June 8. Boston has off days this Thursday and next Monday and won't need a fifth starter until July 1, so after tonight's start, Synder will likely be sent to Pawtucket.

---The crap Manny has gotten from the media for his passive non-conduct while Loretta was trying to score is well-deserved...I don't know that I've ever seen that in a major league game...hell, in Little League they taught us that the next batter has to signal the runner whether to slide or not.---Stupid Rick Suttcliffe Comment of the Day (for the ESPN Yankee-Phillie game): After a graphic showing 3 games seperating ten NL teams in the woldcard race, Suttcliffe says, "and the AL Wildcard race is just as close." Right, Rick..the Yankees were four games behind the Wildcard- leading White Sox, and nobody else was even that close. "Just as close." Right.---Makes sense to release Snow; Ortiz can back up first, and the Sox will eventually want to have Harris, Kapler, AND Willy Mo. Should I send Ken Rosenthal the notice, along with his snotty "who's the expert here?" note he sent me when I told him in March he was dead wrong that Snow would be the regular at first? Nahhh.

As the saying goes, it's just another case of Manny being Manny. On the replay it almost looks like he's just staring off into the air as Loretta is coming home. In some respects, I'd rather he do the little things right rather than just masking the screw-ups with a solo shot. But then he wouldn't be Manny.

I think we should start a movement to retire the "Manny being Manny" slogan. It's awfully debasing and condescending, as if he's a child or brain-damaged, and at the same time lets him off the hook. Just because Manny is Manny doesn't mean that we shouldn't expect him to act like a professional ball-player, stay awake during the game, not barrel through stop signs, let a teammate get tagged out at home. If he does those things, he should get EXACTLY the same amount of criticism as anyone else...not more, not less. That's a measure of respect that he has eraned....the right to be held to high standards. Let Manny Be Professional.